DeJesus Suspended; Soto-Yagin for FW Title at TPF 10

DeJesus (Pictured; file photo) tested positive for marijuana
following his May 6 knockout victory over Russ Miura at
TPF 9. According to the California State Athletic Commission, the
Goon Squad fighter has been suspended for six months and fined
$500. In an unrelated matter, DeJesus was stripped of his
featherweight belt by Tachi Palace Fights after he failed to make
weight for his bout with Miura, making the title vacant.

Stepping up to face Yagin for the vacant strap will be
Bellator Fighting Championships’ inaugural featherweight king
Joe
Soto. TPF 10 goes down Aug. 5 from the Tachi Palace Hotel and
Casino in Lemoore, Calif. While verbal agreements are in place for
the contest, Soto, who was sidelined last year with a detached
retina, has not yet been medically cleared to fight by the athletic
commission. MMAJunkie.com first reported that Soto would compete at
the event.

Soto returns to Tachi Palace following a successful run with
Bellator that saw him win the promotion’s first-ever featherweight
tournament. Besting three opponents in the span of two months, the
24-year-old captured the belt by submitting Yahir Reyes
in the final at Bellator 10 in 2009. Soto then went on to post
back-to-back wins over Mike
Christensen at TPF 1 and Diego
Saraiva at Bellator 19 in a non-title bout. In his first
defense of his Bellator crown, Soto fell victim to a
come-from-behind knockout at the hands of Joe Warren.
Following the September defeat, Soto learned of his detached retina
and has been unable to compete while healing the injury.

Yagin has not fought since 2009, when he had a five-fight winning
streak snapped by the aforementioned Saraiva at TPF 2. A 10-year
veteran of the sport, Yagin is a former SuperBrawl and Palace
Fighting Championship talent. “The Filipino Phenom” has finished
eight of his 13 career victims and has faced such notable
competition as Rich
Clementi and Vitor
Ribeiro. The Hawaiian featherweight holds four knockout wins to
his credit, and both of his TKO losses have come via doctors'
stoppages.